26. (Last Week 26) New York Jets (0-2) It was heroic, the way they staged a huge fourth quarter rally in Baltimore, with their back-up QB. Wins, they need wins. Their defense will give them one against the Dolphins this weekend. TOP 5 1 LW 2 New England Patriots (2-0) The Flaming Redhead reminds me of another pledge I once made. The defending champ stays at No. 1 until it loses. New England is not the defending champ, thus in a very small period, two pledges have been violated. But honestly, have you seen anything more impressive than the way New England, supposedly distracted to the point of mumbling incoherence by the uh, troubles, handled the Chargers on Sunday night? No, me neither. They're the best team. Let's not kid ourselves. 2 LW 1 Indianapolis Colts (2-0) Peyton standing tall against a rough Titans' defense was a given. But the toughness the defense showed, playing without both starting outside linebackers, against an offense you knew was going to keep running at them, was also impressive. Hey, Patriots vs. Colts in the Dome in Week 9. Closest thing we'll have to a pre-February Super Bowl -- until they meet again in January. 3 LW 7 Dallas Cowboys (2-0) When something's funny, then it's funny, I'll admit it, even though it cost the team 15 yards. T.O., after catching his 34-yard touchdown with 4:08 left against the Dolphins, put the football up against the goalpost and pretended to be videotaping. The penalty was for using the goalpost as a prop. C'mon, NFL, a full 15 yards is a devastating enough punishment. Don't hit him with a fine, too. 4 LW 8 Pittsburgh Steelers (2-0) Rookie TE, 6-7 Matt Spaeth, has two TD catches in two games. Last year Steeler tight ends caught six. "He's a fantasy league all-star," says Mike Tomlin, the coach. I don't know what this means because I don't know how it works, don't want to know, never will want to know. Why'd you have to bring it up, anyway? 5 LW 11 Green Bay Packers (2-0) Mike McCarthy, the coach, said he wanted Brett Favre to show more consistency, which means a higher completion percentage, this year. Against the Giants he completed 76.3 percent (29-for-38) , aided largely by 14 straight at the start of the second half. He's normally not a high percentage thrower. The last time he topped Sunday's mark was in Game 6 against Minnesota in 2005 (28 for 36 for 77.8), 28 contests ago. See that, you tell the kid to do something and he does it. Who says he's not coachable? http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/dr_z/09/19/week2.rankings.part1/index.html?bcnn=yes
Though I enjoy seeing Pats at #1, I am not a big fan of Dr. Z, and any list that has the Packers at #5 is a farce.
If GB was a team with just Favre, they'd be number 1. It's a shame he's got 45 other guys bringing him down.
I think Dr. Z's basis for ranking the Colts number 2 was "the defending champs hold the top spot until they lose." (the Patriots are just that good, I guess.) But hey, don't knock Tennessee. They nearly beat the champs last year and are going to give us a lot of trouble in the wild-card run. (Their defense is no joke- Albert Haynesworth is a murderer.) As for the Packers, that defense is not the same one we shredded last season. All they have to do to win the weakest division in football is neuter Brett Favre and stay healthy. AS FOR THE JETS- we are definitely the best no win team in the league. Oh its the Saints, you say? Mularkey! Nothing but hype and hope in the Big Easy. The Eagles? Poppycock! Poor management- Brian Westbrook is the best player on the team (even if McNabb were 100 percent) and they refuse to give him the ball 30 times per game. Reid's been shooting his sons' stash. We are about to mash our next three opponents, including a Subway series (Serie?). We need wins? We'll get wins.
Haynesworth and Vandenbosch are both very good defensive linemen. Tennessee is going to win 11 games this year unless they have injuries that knock them out. They control the flow on offense and their defense will get that offense on the field. This started midseason last year and is continuing early on this year.
